questions about drivetrain

Johnny D · **questions about drivetrain**

hi everyone
im new and do not know much about mustangs currently i own a riced out honda accord its my first car and i like it. i kno im prolly gonna get alot of hell for havin it but its kool. i am planning to buy an 05 mustang v6 as my next car as soon as they come out and i hav many questions and am eager to learn more about the mustang. from my experience with the honda i have learned that one of the best ways to get power is to get it to the ground. is this the same with the mustang? my honda is an auto with a cold air intake, headers, and an exhaust. but all of that doesnt really matter that much when yur goin up against a car with a manual. so i was thinkin to start with the drive train of the car when i get it is this a good idea? i was thinkin to totally rebuild the drivetrain and to get a tlock differential, 4.10 gears, an aluminum driveshaft, a new clutch, and a lightweight flywheel. tell me what u guys think about my ideas. thanx alot

Johnny D · 02-07-2004, 02:35 PM

:shock:

Rick0636 · 02-07-2004, 07:42 PM

You have pretty good ideas there, as for being able to get lightweight flywheels for the 2005 Mustang v6, that might be hard to do, the aftermarket is just starting to get halfway decent for the 3.8, now with going to a whole different engine and drivetrain, its likely to be non existant for a least a little while. Good luck!

Monkey · 02-07-2004, 10:05 PM

4.10s in a manual is ok, but its a very tall gear. remember, mustangs only have like a 5500 redline. although the 4.0L v6 i believe is dohc next year, but it still wont have that high of a redline.

furthermore, an alum driveshaft is fine, but they are changing the entire frame for the 05 model year. this is causing the driveshafts to be different lengths than what you can find now. chances are, it wont be out for a while. plus, its not that great of a mod anyway. so, i wouldnt worry about it until later down the line w/ the 05.

the lightweight flywheel isnt a bad idea... like rick said, the clutch and flywheel will take a while to come out unless they stick with the T5, which i doubt they will do. the clutch will be out long before the flywheel though. but personally, i wouldnt do 4.10s and a light flywheel in the same car. you would shift out of 1st gear w/in 1-2seconds after starting

Rick0636 · 02-07-2004, 11:13 PM

If I remember correctly doesn't a light flywheel actually take away from the momentum or torque of an engine? This would tend to really not be so great with a V6 engine I would think....

Monkey · 02-08-2004, 12:04 AM

it does, but it doesnt. the lighter flywheel actually makes it easier to get into the power band than does the stock one. the weight of the lighter flywheel makes it to where when you let off the gas, the rpms drop quicker than with the heavier flywheel which maintains its inertia. however, you can quickly just put a little gas back into it and be right at the power band if you shift too slow.

either MMFF or 5.0 did a comparason on a 10sec, 11sec and 12sec car to see if the lighter flywheel made a difference. they reported that the differences in 1/4 times only varied by a minute amount.

as for the v6, i think it would be too much with the 4.10s and the light flywheel. im sure you could do it, but i dont think it woudl take too much away from the torque of the car. it would put more emphasis on the hp of the car though

Johnny D · 02-08-2004, 12:56 AM

i have done my reaserch on the 05 stang and it is a soch and it does come with the t5 tranny. would that mean that i could just get any clutch that could b a replacement for the t5? if the car has a t5 tranny does that mean that it would have the same flywheel as the current v6 stang? wouldnt 4.10 gears with a lightened flywheel make the car faster?

Johnny D · 02-08-2004, 01:06 AM

say that i did get and aluminum flywheel, 4.10 or 3.73 gears, an aluminum driveshaft, and a tlock, what do u think i would be running in the 1/4? my long term goal is to eventually b in the mid to high 13's. im not looking for an all out race machine just sumthing that is alotta fun and that can win in an occasional street race . . . like starting from a red light and beating the show off whos revving his engine next to me

Monkey · 02-08-2004, 01:22 AM

its hard to say about the 4.0 (couldnt remember if it was sohc or dohc. i know they were debating b/w the two for a while) in the 1/4. it probably wont be until the car comes out that people know what it runs in the 1/4 stock. the current one w/ the antiquated pushrods and 193bhp are running mid to low 15s with a manual. i would expect low 15s to high 14s stock. depending on what stock gears you get in the car, current being 3.27s, you might see about .4 off your ET with the addition of a posi and 3.73s.

dont count on the alum driveshaft. i was very heavily modded making a 150bhp automatic mustang capable of 13s and i had one. the only reason i would ever buy one again would be to smooth out the drivetrain. it was good for maybe 3rwhp. not worth it for a power adder IMO.

yes, any replacement clutch would be fine to put in the new T5 (unless they change the size or shape of the bellhousing) IMO, not enough is released about the car to even think about modding it yet. but i still stand by the thought that the light weight flywheel with 4.10s would be too much. it would help with acceleration, but shifting gears, you would fall out of your power band. since you say you have a honda, they tend to have significantly higher redlines than does mustangs. our power bands are from 3000-5000 rpms right now. dont knwo what it would be on the SOHC, but i guarentee it wont be as wide as a VTEC controlled car. unless youre insanly fast at shifting (not putting it past you, but taking an assumption youre of average... makes it easier) then you will drop about 1000-1500rpms easily when shifting. and even more with the light flywheel.

Ponycarman · 02-08-2004, 04:42 AM

Lightening the mass of the rotating parts (flywheel, driveshaft, etc) will net exactly zero more HP.

It might help the engine accelerate quicker, but as has been tested it doesn't really show up as any kind of quantifiable improvement on what I would consider a street car. Maybe if your running in the 10's then it might improve 1/4 mile times.

Also, a lighter flywheel will make taking off from a stop a more delicate proposition. So be prepared to relearn how to drive a stick.

If you are planning on ordering an 05 be informed. Find out if T/L is an option and order it. Find out what gears are standard and if there are any optional gears available. Then find out what you'd have to do to the speed sensor if you change gears, otherwise the speedo will be off and the computer won't know what's going on with the driveshaft and it may cause issues. Before you make any changes drive it for awhile and see if you like what it came with and if not figure out what you don't like and then we can help you cure that.

Steve

Monkey · 02-08-2004, 12:52 PM

the alum driveshaft has been dynoed to give rwhp. it doesnt make any bhp, but its more efficient at transfering power and thus yields a little less parasitic loss from the drivetrain yielding a couple more rwhp

Ponycarman · 02-08-2004, 11:00 PM

I'd be interested in seeing how the dyno test was done. There are a couple of ways to do it and one of them is more sensitive to rate of acceleration, which will give a higher rwhp reading than other types.

I'd also be interested to see the comparison, a steel driveshaft with worn out U joints vs. a new aluminum shaft with new u joints isn't a fair comparison. Not saying that's what was done, just saying I don't know what was done.

Steve

OR_Red98 · 03-16-2004, 10:12 PM

The V6 doesn't make enough HP to take advantage of a lightened flywheel and you'll bog off the line. The heavier F/W gives the momentum to keep the engine turning with minimal stumbling.